Unilever picks AKQA for Peperami Noodles brief

Unilever has commissioned AKQA to create an online site and viral films to support the launch of Peperami Noodles, instant noodles containing slices of Peperami sausage. The site and the viral films are part of an estimated &£3m through-the-line campaign that breaks this week.

AKQA’s campaign is centred on the Peperami Noodles Army, a shadowy underground movement dedicated to “making the mundane insane”. The campaign targets students and young males who are heavy users of the internet and mobile phones. Mobile users will be able to pay to download the voice and image of the Peperami animal as an exclusive ringtone and mobile wallpaper.

The website, goneabitnoodles.co.uk, is the headquarters of the Peperami Noodles Army. In an embedded video, visitors are invited by the army’s leader to tour the organisation’s training camp and watch recruitment films. The films show a game of chess livened up by combining it with a form of Russian roulette, and a member taking the “predictability” out of water-skiing by attempting it from the back of a jet fighter. Visitors who register get a welcome pack with more exclusive video content, details of how to create their own uniform, and the opportunity to download the ringtone or mobile wallpaper.

The activity will be promoted through viral seeding of the films – produced by The Number of the Beast – and rich media online advertising.

AKQA group account director Richard Hedges says: “Peperami has always innovated online, and this campaign continues that with exclusive film content created specifically for the Web.”